Stairways or steps have been made from a variety of materials particularly suited for the stairway environment. For example, steel and concrete stairways have been constructed for commercial or industrial applications while wooden stairways are preferred in residential applications. Wooden stairways may be fabricated from expensive architectural or solid woods, such as oak, maple, or cherry, and stained to produce a natural, rich appearance, or they may be made from less-expensive, wood-composite materials, such as plywood, particle board, or the like. Typically, stairways made from wood composites are covered by carpet or painted when located in high-visibility areas and are untreated when located in low-visibility areas, such as basements, cellars, or the like.
Although architectural and wood-composite stairways provide the same function, there is a dramatic difference in the cost of materials simply because architectural woods are not as abundant as composite materials. Labor costs are also more expensive when using architectural woods because the fit and finish must be much more precise. The disadvantage of wood-composite materials is that they do not provide as good a finish surface as architectural woods. A disadvantage with both materials is that of making repairs to damaged areas or steps, although the appearance of such repairs is often less critical in wood-composite stairways. If a particular step made from architectural wood is worn, repair of that step is difficult without substantially replacing the tread. Fillers and cements may not be suitable to resurface the step since coloring of such materials may not match the color of the wood nor accept a stain.
A particle-board tread is commercially available with a factory-applied veneer on the ends for use on stairways having a carpet runner. However, the tread is only made available in standard size. To shorten the length of the tread to fit a particular stairway dimension, the carpenter or installer must cut the tread in half in order to remove the required amount of material from the center of the tread, thus avoiding removing the factory-applied veneer from one or both ends of the tread. The two stair tread pieces must then be reassembled and joined over the center support stringer. Additionally, the ends of the tread must be cut at the job site order to provide a proper fit of the stair tread end against the lateral support stringers or wall. Typically, such trimming is done by a power saw, which results in tearing and gouged of the veneer on the tread surface. Disadvantages associated with this tread include the possibility that the joint at the center of the two tread pieces, when trimmed or reduced in size, do not overlay the center support stringer. Thus, to use the tread, the center support stringer will need to be increased in width or other support will need to be provided so the tread will provide a stable surface. Additionally, special precautions must be taken in order to prevent gouging or tearing of the factory-applied veneer when trimming the ends of the tread to conform with the lateral stringers or sidewalls of the stairway.
Currently factory-produced stair treads or steps must be stocked at the point of purchase to include different lengths ranging between 36 inches up to as much as 48 inches or more. This is due to the cost of solid wood material. Also, retailers must stock left return. treads and right return treads. Treads with both left and right returns must be specially ordered.